The forcible readjustment of gasoline prices at the Chicoramas Fuel Station at Non Pareil, East Coast Demerara, by Guyana Oil Company (GUYOIL) personnel, who were accompanied by four men armed with shotguns, has drawn stern comments from the Alliance For Change (AFC).Chairman of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan, termed the behaviour of the nationally owned gas station as ‘outrageous.’ He explained that since Guyana is a free market economy, as is commonly boasted, if a certain company wanted to reduce its profit margin,Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic, it should be able to.“GUYOIL cannot dictate the price of gas,NFL Jerseys China,” highlighted RamjattanRamjattan said that President Bharrat Jagdeo should chastise GUYOIL management and the armed personnel who entered the gas station to forcibly readjust the price of gasoline on the gas pumps.Chairman of Vision Guyana, Peter Ramsaroop, explained that the Government can only set price parameters,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, not process. He said that if the management of the Chicoramas Fuel Station wanted to create incentives (like a reduced fuel price) to secure customers, then it should be allowed to.Some of Satyanand’s customers voiced similar views, saying that they thought that he (Satyanand) should be able to sell his gasoline at whatever price he wanted to, as he was still purchasing the gasoline from GUYOIL at the same rate as everyone else.“It makes no sense,NFL Jerseys Authentic China, if he (Satyanand) is buying the gas from them (GUYOIL) at their price. How is it any of their (GUYOIL) concern at what price he sells it back at? If he wants he should be able to give it away; he bought it after all,” one customer said.However,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, Ramsaroop noted that if in some way the retailing of fuel at a reduced price was in breach of some contract between the gas station and GUYOIL, then GUYOIL should have pursued the matter through the court of law, rather than entering the gas station, with armed personnel and forcing a price change.Ramsaroop made it clear that if there were individuals with goodwill in the private sector who wanted to help the consuming public out by offering incentives, they should be given a pat on the back.The owner of the gas station, Christopher Satyanand,MLB Jerseys From China, when he effected the initial reduction in the price of gasoline, had said “I have cut my profit margin so that we can meet the man on the streets pocket.”He added that he hoped that the reduction in the price of gasoline would help persons with their expenses for the upcoming holiday season.The move by GUYOIL in forcibly raising the prices of the gas pumps at the Chicoramas Fuel Station came after Satyanand lowered his prices to $772 per gallon, some five dollars less than GUYOIL.

NEW AMSTERDAM, BERBICE — No rice shortage is predicted in Region Six. This is according to the President of the Guyana Rice Producers Association, Leekha Rambrich.“There is no indication that there will be any shortage of rice here in East Berbice/ Corentyne. For this present crop, we have exceeded last year’s production by some 6,000 acres of rice. In the last crop of 2008, farmers were having some difficulty in selling their produce because,Sale NFL Jerseys, basically, only two buyers were on the market. There is a guarantee that there would be a surplus of rice for both the local and internal markets.”In the front lands — Crabwood Creek to the East Bank of Berbice, including East and West Canje — 25,933 acres of rice were sown for this first crop of 2009 (spring crop). In Black Bush Polder, 13,980 acres were cultivated. As of Friday, January 16th, the total crop sown in Region Six is 39,913 acres.He pointed out that land preparation is continuing but at a slow pace, and another 3,000 acres are expected to be planted before the end of January.Meanwhile, Chairman of Region Six, Zulfikar Mustapha, said that the Regional Administration did not start the irrigation of rice fields late. “We started to irrigate when the majority of farmers needed the water, some time in early November. We cannot only irrigate to satisfy a few big farmers.”He explained that the irrigation process depends on weather patterns; no irrigation can be done during the wet periods. Last week, President of the Guyana Rice Producers Association, Leekha Rambrich, had said that 60 percent of the rice produced for this first crop in Region Six was threatened. He had explained that the crop was not only under water, but was also highly infected with ‘duck weed’.He placed the blame squarely on the Regional Administration, when asked if the situation was preventable. “Yes! This could have been avoided if the Regional Administration had listened to the advice of the officials of the Rice Producers Association and the Guyana Rice Development Board, who made the call for the Region to start irrigating between the 1st to the 10th of November.” Said Mr. Rambrich .According to Rambrich, had the irrigation process begun earlier, the rice crop would have been older and more resilient, and less space would have been available for the ‘duck weed’ to thrive.According to Mr. Mustapha, although there was heavy flooding in several sections of East Berbice /Corentyne over the past few weeks, this present rice crop will surpass the amount produced for the corresponding crop in 2008.The Regional Chairman said that rice is still under cultivation. “To date,Wholesale China Jerseys, we have 39,713 acres cultivated so far. The breakdown is from Crabwood Creek to the East Bank of Berbice — 25, 733 acres,Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping, and in Black Bush Polder 13,980 acres have been sown so far. It is estimated that close to 46,000 acres will be cultivated for this present spring crop.”According to Mustapha, the production for the autumn crop in 2008 was 36,600 acres. “We have already surpassed that. And if you look at losses, not much has been lost to date.”According to him, in the front lands — Crabwood Creek to the East Bank of Berbice — 1, 895 acres were lost because of the flood, for this present crop; and in Black Bush Polder,Authentic Jerseys Cheap, 1,Sale NFL Jerseys,152 acres.Mr. Mustapha insisted that this loss had nothing to do with the Regional Administration, but was due to the fact that the crop was sown just before the heavy rainfall, and as such was not allowed to germinate as a result of the large volume of water on the land. “Some farmers are in the process of re-throwing paddy seeds that were lost, and our extension officers — Guyana Rice Development Board and Ministry of Agriculture — are out in the fields advising farmers how they can get the acreage re-planted.”Mr. Mustapha said that Regional officials met with all the farmers in the Black Bush Polder area before the crop started. “We meet with these farmers on a weekly basis, and based on their request, we started to irrigate the land.”The Region Six Chairman pointed out that in some areas farmers tampered with the drainage and irrigation structures, and this assisted in creating a recipe for flooding in those areas.Chairman of the Black Bush Polder Water Users’ Association, Lalbahadoor Singh,Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale, said that farmers decide when the time is right for the irrigation process to commence. Mr. Singh is for the removal of the President of

– company mulls compensation packageAir Services Limited pilot Feriel Ally has been suspended until investigators ascertain the circumstances that caused her to crash two Mondays ago at Matthew’s Ridge.And although initial investigations suggest that inclement weather caused the mishap,Cheap Sports Jerseys, Captain Ally will have to undergo further tests to ascertain that she is capable of flying the Cessna Caravan aircraft.Captain Feriel Ally“She will not be allowed to fly until she is cleared by the GCCA (Guyana Civil Aviation Authority),” a source close to the investigation said yesterday.The source said that Ally has only been flying the Cessna Caravan for about a year. This is a more complex machine than the Britten-Norman BN 2 Islander,Cheap NFL Jerseys, which she has often flown.Kaieteur News was told that engineers are preparing to bring the damaged engine to Ogle this week, and that the engine will be taken overseas for further tests. Initial reports had suggested that the plane could have been salvaged but sources now say that it was damaged beyond repair.Meanwhile, Kaieteur News understands that Air Services Limited officials are trying to come up with a compensation package for the eleven injured passengers.This newspaper had reported that Attorney-at-Law Melvin Duke had sent a statement of claim to ASL on behalf of injured passengers Clinton Campbell, 30, and Troy Henry,Wholesale Jerseys, 25.Campbell is a father of two and has a pregnant wife. He said he is unable to work because he received injuries to his hand. Henry also received injuries.Initial investigations indicate that Ally clipped a tree while circling the Matthew’s Ridge area during heavily overcast conditions that prevented her from seeing the airstrip.Kaieteur News understands that an agent at Matthew’s Ridge had informed the pilot that the weather was good enough for her to land.According to sources,Cheap Jerseys China, an aircraft takes some 40 to 50 minutes to reach Matthew’s Ridge, and during that time, the weather changed drastically. However,Discount NFL Jerseys, the pilot was reportedly not informed about the change in weather.Kaieteur News was told that after arriving at Matthew’s Ridge with poor visibility, Captain Ally circled the airstrip three times, and while circling a fourth time,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, one of the wings clipped a tree. It was then that the pilot switched off the fuel pumps as the plane went down.This reportedly prevented the highly flammable fuel from flowing to the engine.It is believed that this action also prevented the plane from bursting into flames when it crashed.Engineers from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), the Caribbean Aviation Maintenance Service (CAMS) and Trans-Guyana Airways are conducting the investigation.

As information continues to surface about the affairs of the National Communication Network (NCN), investigations have revealed that during the years 2008 to 2011 some $499M was turned over in subventions from the State coffers.The Combined Opposition managed to gut some $81M from the Office of the President subventions for NCN this year.NCN receives money from the Government on an annual basis through two methods in the Budget,Cheap Jerseys China, both from Office of the President.One sum of cash is channeled to the State owned media entity through the Budgetary Line Item for “Subsidies and Contributions to Local Organizations.”The Budget cuts this year affected $81M stemming from that source of distribution for Office of the President.The other sum is allocated as Capital Expenditure under monies allocated for such spending.Current Expenditure in layman’s terms refers to recurring expenditure as in a household where rent, food and utility bills recur monthly.Capital Expenditure in layman’s terms would be akin to a household deciding to erect a perimeter fence,Wholesale Jerseys, refurbish a damaged stairway or purchasing a family car.In 2008 the company received a $50M/$70M allocation amounting to $120M.The following year in 2009,Jerseys NFL Cheap, Office of the President provided NCN with a $70M/$54M provision totaling some $124M.In 2012 the Office of the President channeled $120M to NCN while last year the company received a $65M/$70M allocation totaling $135M.Altogether over the past four years the Office of the President has provided NCN Inc with some $499M dollars.This money is transferred from the nation’s coffers to the company which has been rocked with allegations of massive financial impropriety.On Thursday last, the Subject Minister Dr Ashni Singh tabled the company’s 2008 audited financial reports which did not help the situation any.Auditor General (ag) Deodat Sharma in his 2008 Report for the Company was forced to issue what is called a ‘qualified audit opinion.’A qualified audit opinion has been described by several in the field as “not a good thing,Authentic Jerseys Cheap,” given that it informs that the audit was either incomplete or that questionable accounting methods were used.A serious bone of contention raised by Sharma during his audit of NCN in 2008, centered on some $215M reflected on the company’s balance sheet as ‘Accounts Receivable.’‘Accounts Receivable’ is defined to mean, “Money which is owed to a company by a customer for products and services provided on credit.”The revelation of more than $200M being reflected in the company’s books as moneys to be received has been flagged by some as a matter that needs further scrutiny.An economist asked to comment on the audited accounts for the company says that the poor state of its assets, the questionable asset base and large debt base reflect a company that would have been mismanaged while state subventions continued to pour into it.It was pointed out that only recently one of NCN’s senior officials,Wholesale China Jerseys, Martin Goolsaran admitted to depositing monies meant to be for the company in his personal account.Sources say that the CEO approved this transaction. NCN’s management therefore ensured that it allowed a system which kept revenues outside of its legal books,Cheap Soccer Jerseys Free Shipping, meaning that untold volumes of revenues and expenditure for NCN would have been transacted outside of the company’s accounting system.NCN falls under the aegis of the now controversial National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) since it was incorporated in 2004.

As Child Protection Week continues,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security,Cheap Jerseys From China, through the Child Protection Agency (CPA),Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic, on Monday began a week of activities in several areas across the country.Child Protection Week is being observed in some 120 countries, under the theme ‘Community Partnerships for child protection’, from September 18 to 24, and is meant to raise the level of awareness on issues relating to children, including child abuse and propelling individuals and groups into action to keep children safe.CPA personnel used the opportunity to interact with residents of the various communities, educating them on social issues, including responsible and positive parenting.The Agency has planned a series of activities to raise public awareness on the issue of child protection. Some of the other events include countrywide exhibitions and street fairs, concerts and a day of interaction.According to the Human Services Ministry,Cheap NHL Jerseys, citizens were also informed about the five pieces of legislation that the agency has mandate over: the Protection of Children Bill,China NFL Jerseys, Status of Children Bill, Adoption of Children Bill, Child Care and Development Services Bill and the Custody, Guardianship,Wholesale Jerseys, Maintenance and Access Bill.The CPA conducted two television programmes in Linden and Berbice, in addition to several events including a grand school rally in Mahdia and several community outreaches in Sophia, Mocha/Arcadia and Linden.